May 20, 2012, 1:12 a.m. CDT
LOS ANGELES _ The galling events of Game 2 now have been replaced by a series of outrages at the end of Game 4, and maybe the Los Angeles Lakers have been replaced, too.
Cool, calm and collected _ those are not just the properties of the old. The Oklahoma City Thunder, under the Lakers' thumb most of the night, erupted in the fourth quarter and won, 103-100, to lead this Western Conference semifinal, 3-1.
Kevin Durant's 3-pointer, as cold-blooded a shot as anything the Black Mamba ever produced, was the difference-maker after Pau Gasol, given space and time, elected to throw an errant cross-court pass instead of attacking the hoop.
But it was Russell Westbrook's relentless 37 points that kept the Thunder within range on a night when the Lakers played brilliantly and together until it really counted.
Kobe Bryant took over, or was saddled with, the big-shot burden at the end and couldn't beat Oklahoma City by himself. He was 2 for 10 in the fourth quarter while Andrew Bynum, the ruler of the first half, got just four shots in the second half.
And maybe the fact that it was a back-to-back situation finally consumed the Lakers' energy. No excuse will hold up very long when this crushing loss is fully dissected.
As we all know, this schedule does not pander to the obsessive-compulsives who coach NBA teams. Mike Brown, pregame, was talking about how he wished the Lakers had just a little more time to tweak and adjust and scheme.
He also said, "You just gotta go play."
To that end, the Lakers did not do their usual shootaround Saturday morning, preferring to arrive at Staples at 5 p.m., watch tape, walk through some things, and avoid stepping on what was left of the Clippers.
Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks replied, "We heard they canceled their shootaround so we had a two-hour shootaround because we have so much more energy."
He was kidding, of course, just as he replied, "Coach Mulligan," when someone asked him where he got his defensive orientation. Brooks was an All-PCAA player for Bill Mulligan's UC Irvine Anteaters in the rousing 1980s, when the conference featured all sorts of draftable talent from UNLV, Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, New Mexico State, etc.
"I didn't get to this league because of my defense," Brooks said. "But Jeff Van Gundy ... basically every coach I ever played for stressed how important it was. Like I tell Kevin (Durant), you're a great player now but you can be a truly elite player in this league for 13 or so years if you make yourself a great defensive player."
Then the Thunder came out in the first half and went from elite to lit-up. The Lakers shot 60 percent in the first quarter, 49.9 percent for the first half, and sopped up nine offensive rebounds. The towering figure was Bynum, who hit his first five shots and was 7 for 11 for the half with two blocks.
At the end, the Thunder swarmed Bynum like iron filings around a magnet, highlighting that Bynum still needs to improve his passing out of traffic. But since every other part of his game has blossomed so prominently given health, one can assume he'll learn to do that.
The keepsake play of the half was Bynum's block of Nazr Mohammed in the paint. The ball had not yet landed in Ramon Sessions' hands when Bynum started sprinting down the middle of the floor, the type of "rim-running" exercises that coaches preach. Sessions rewarded Bynum with a pass right into his pocket just above the foul circle, and Bymum finished strongly, as the building bubbled up. That gave the Lakers a 36-26 lead early in the second quarter.
The Thunder's strategy of guarding Bryant by parade was not working either. He had shot (and made) 16 free throws on Friday. He opened this game with two more foul shots. At the end of the half he barged into the lane, got blocked by Kendrick Perkins, and watched Russell Westbrook slam. But then Bryant saddled up and went right back into the lane to get the andone 3-point play.
Brown was asked if Bryant was hassled, disrupted or worried by the fact that the Thunder is sending different defenders against him on nearly every possession. Or does Bryant even notice?
"I don't think he notices," Brown said. "I'll say, look, Kobe, do you want us to set a pick and get a particular matchup for you? And he'll just give me that look, like it doesn't matter who's guarding him."
Brown simulated that look almost perfectly _ an insolent frown, an are-you-kidding-me glance, as if someone had asked Bryant if he'd ever visited Italy.
That same look was on the vast majority of 18,997 faces, at the bitter end.
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(c)2012 The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.)
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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099):BKN-THUNDER-LAKERS
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